1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a warning system for a manually shifted vehicular transmission to warn the vehicle operator that the input shaft is rotating at a speed that will result in overspeeding and/or underspeeding the engine upon engagement of the master clutch. In particular, the invention relates to a warning system for a compound synchronized manual transmission, such as a compound synchronized transmission having a splitter type input section and/or a range type output section, for warning that the transmission is engaged in a ratio which will result in overspeeding or underspeeding (stalling) the engine upon reengagement of the vehicle master clutch.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Manually shifted vehicular change gear transmissions, of both the simple and the compound type, are well known in the prior art as may be seen by reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,105,395; 4,527,447 and 4,754,665, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Synchronized change gear transmissions, of both the simple and compound type, and synchronized jaw clutch assemblies therefor, are well known in the prior art as may be seen by reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,462,489; 4,125,179; 4,440,037; 4,831,894; 4,989,706 and 5,141,087, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Compound transmissions having a splitter type input section are known in the prior art as may be seen by reference to the "Ecosplit" transmission manufactured by Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen Aktiengesbushaft and to above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,894.
While synchronized vehicular transmissions may be desirable as less skill is required to synchronize the jaw clutches thereof as compared to the jaw clutches of nonsynchronized mechanical transmissions, such transmission were not totally satisfactory as the synchronizers may allow engagement of a transmission ratio which, at current vehicle speed, will result in either overspeeding or underspeeding the engine if the master clutch is reengaged upon completion of the shift. This is an especially troublesome problem for compound transmissions wherein, at current vehicle speed, an overaggressive downshift can cause damaging overspeeding of the engine, and an overaggressive upshift can cause stalling underspeeding of the engine, upon reengagement of the master clutch upon completion of a engagement of an undesirable gear ratio.